All bid deadlines are 11:59pm Pacific Time the date of the bid deadline listed unless otherwise noted.

school Wynne School District
IFCB Posted : Oct 8, 2021
Bid Deadline : Tuesday, Nov 23, 2021

Questions Due By : Tuesday, Oct 26, 2021
Applicant Address : Wynne, AR 72396
IFCB ID : 220001456

IFCB Requirements :

·       All Questions and Bids must be submitted using the on-line IFCB system. If for some reason the system is down before the respective deadline, please email your bid to info@crwconsulting.com or fax it to 918.445.0049. Bids or questions submitted in this fashion will be disqualified if the on-line system is active at the time of submission.

 

·       Bidder must agree to participate in USF Program (AKA “E-rate”) for the corresponding funding year.

 

·       Please include the correct Service Provider Identification Number (SPIN) on your bid.

 

·       By submitting a bid, bidder certifies that the bidder does have a valid (non-red light status) SPIN for the E-rate program at the time of submission. Should the Applicant discover that the bidder is on red light status, or if the FCC classifies the bidder as on red-light status before work is performed and invoices are paid, the contract will be null and void and the applicant will have no payment obligations to the bidder.

 

·       Bidder is expected to provide the lowest corresponding price per E-rate rules.  See https://www.usac.org/e-rate/service-providers/step-2-responding-to-bids/lowest-corresponding-price/ for details.

 

·       Contracts must not prohibit SPIN changes.

 

·       Bidder must agree to provide the Applicant the choice of discount methods (SPI or BEAR).

 

·       Bidder will be automatically disqualified if the District determines that the bidding company has offered any employee of the District any individual gift of more than $20 or gifts totaling more than $50 within a 12 month period. This does not apply to the recent FCC exemptions of the Gift Rule for the COVID pandemic.

 

·       All contracts awarded will be contingent upon E-rate funding and final board approval.  The applicant may choose to do all or part of the project upon funding notification.

 

·       All contracts awarded under this IFCB bidding process may be voluntarily renewed by the applicant, upon written notice to the provider, for five consecutive one year terms. Please include this language in your final contract.

 

·       All applicable fees, surcharges, and taxes must be identified on the bid. E-rate rules require the applicants to evaluate the price of eligible goods and services that will be listed on the 471 application during the competitive bidding process. Fees and surcharges that apply but are not listed on the bid will be the responsibility of the bidding company, should their bid be awarded.

 

·       If the applicant is requesting purchases of new equipment, or maintenance of that new equipment, bids for functionally equivalent equipment will be accepted.

 

·       LEASED LIT FIBER DISQUALIFICATION FACTOR: Any and all installation charges must be identified on your bid. If you submit a bid indicating that installation charges may apply without listing those charges, we will consider your bid incomplete and disqualify your bid.

·       The winning vendor will be required to complete the USAC approved Item 21 template for the project within 7 working days after notification that the vendor has won the bid.

·       DISQUALIFICATION FACTOR INTERNAL CONNECTIONS: Bids from companies that include equipment barred by the Federal Communications Commission due to national security risks (such as ZTE or Huawei) will be disqualified.

·       DISQUALIFICATION FACTOR INTERNAL CONNECTIONS: Vendors must complete and include the C2 Cover Page with their bid. Bids received without the cover page will be disqualified.

·       DISQUALIFICATION FACTOR INTERNAL CONNECTIONS: Service providers are required to bid the entire hardware project.  Bids for individual components of the project will be disqualified.

·       DISQUALIFICATION FACTOR INTERNAL CONNECTIONS: It will be the bidder’s responsibility to provide documentation about the compatibility requirements listed in this IFCB. Vendors that submit bids without documentation demonstrating the required compatibility listed in this IFCB will have their bids disqualified, unless that vendor has bid the preferred make/model number listed.

·       DISQUALIFICATION FACTOR INTERNAL CONNECTIONS: Vendors who wish to bid must attend one of two mandatory site visits. Vendors who submit a bid but have not attended a meeting will be disqualified.

·       DISQUALIFICATION FACTOR INTERNAL CONNECTIONS: Applicant will not accept bids for refurbished equipment. Any bids containing refurbished equipment will be disqualified.

·       DISQUALIFICATION FACTOR INTERNAL CONNECTIONS: Bids that include equipment that was manufactured for use outside of the United States will be disqualified.

·       DISQUALIFICATION FACTOR BMIC: Service providers are required to bid the entire maintenance project.  Bids for individual components of the project will be disqualified.

·       DISQUALIFICATION FACTOR BMIC: Vendors must complete and include the C2 Cover Page with their bid. Bids received without the cover page will be disqualified.

·       DISQUALIFICATION FACTOR BMIC: Maintenance bids listing only an hourly rate and not a monthly or annual total will be disqualified.  Vendors quoting an hourly rate are required to also a) confirm that you have the ability/expertise to maintain all of the equipment listed and b) propose a number of hours at a particular rate monthly to properly maintain the entire list of equipment.  Bids that contain only hourly rates, without confirmation that the company can service the list of equipment, or without a monthly total will be disqualified.

·       DISQUALIFICATION FACTOR BMIC: Vendors who wish to bid must attend one of two mandatory site visits. Vendors who submit a bid but have not attended a meeting will be disqualified.

 


Services and Equipment Requested :

UPDATE 10/19/21 - Q&A from the 10/18/21 site visit is now available to download.

Category One:

Leased Lit Fiber: 100 MB circuit from Wynne High School - 800 E Jackson Street, Wynn AR 72396 to ALE 305 Helen Ave East, Wynn AR 72396.

LEASED LIT FIBER DISQUALIFICATION FACTOR: Any and all installation charges must be identified on your bid. If you submit a bid indicating that installation charges may apply without listing those charges, we will consider your bid incomplete and disqualify your bid.

Category Two:

Mandatory Site Visit:

Vendors wishing to bid on Internal Connections or Basic Maintenance of Internal Connections must attend a mandatory site visit either October 18th, 2021 or October, 25th 2021. Both visits will be at 10AM. Vendors will meet at Wynne High School – 800 E. Jackson Street, Wynne, Arkansas 72396. Vendors will check in with Beau Kemp.

Internal Connections:

Narrative – A complete redesign of the Districts Wi-Fi network. Channel plans, floor plans, heat maps and configuration of all switches and access points. Plans for staff, student, device networks and VLANS with appropriate authentication and filtering/security.

All bids must include installation for cable drops. Installation and configuration for WAPs, modules and switches. 

Type of Equipment

Quantity Vendor Should Bid

 

Preferred Make/Manufacturer

Cabling

176

drops

Switches

1

HP J9772A

Switches

2

HP J9821A

Modules, GBIC, transceivers

15

HP J9534A 24 port

Wireless Access Points

340

Extreme Networks AP4000

Wireless Controller

1

Extreme Cloud IQ

 

NOTE: We are requesting WAP and switch licenses on this IFCB, which sometimes may be categorized as BMIC or MIBS by USAC (the BMIC and MIBS boxes on the 470 have been checked to cover this scenario).

COMPATABILITY REQUIREMENT:

All wireless access points must be compatible with existing Extreme Cloud IQ.

DISQUALIFICATION FACTOR INTERNAL CONNECTIONS: Bids from companies that include equipment barred by the Federal Communications Commission due to national security risks (such as ZTE or Huawei) will be disqualified.

DISQUALIFICATION FACTOR INTERNAL CONNECTIONS: Vendors must complete and include the C2 Cover Page with their bid. Bids received without the cover page will be disqualified.

DISQUALIFICATION FACTOR INTERNAL CONNECTIONS: Service providers are required to bid the entire hardware project.  Bids for individual components of the project will be disqualified.

DISQUALIFICATION FACTOR INTERNAL CONNECTIONS: It will be the bidder’s responsibility to provide documentation about the compatibility requirements listed in this IFCB. Vendors that submit bids without documentation demonstrating the required compatibility listed in this IFCB will have their bids disqualified, unless that vendor has bid the preferred make/model number listed.

DISQUALIFICATION FACTOR INTERNAL CONNECTIONS: Vendors who wish to bid must attend one of two mandatory site visits. Vendors who submit a bid but have not attended a meeting will be disqualified.

DISQUALIFICATION FACTOR INTERNAL CONNECTIONS: Applicant will not accept bids for refurbished equipment. Any bids containing refurbished equipment will be disqualified.

DISQUALIFICATION FACTOR INTERNAL CONNECTIONS: Bids that include equipment that was manufactured for use outside of the United States will be disqualified.

BASIC MAINTENANCE OF INTERNAL CONNECTIONS

Narrative – Ongoing support for the configuration and optimization of the WiFi network.

The district would like a manufacturer’s support contract for these items:

Type of Equipment

Quantity Vendor Should Bid

 

Preferred Make/Manufacturer

Switches

1

HP J9772A

Switches

2

HP J9821A

Modules, GBIC, transceivers

15

HP J9534A 24 port

Wireless Access Points

340

Extreme Networks AP4000

Wireless Controller

1

Extreme Cloud IQ

DISQUALIFICATION FACTOR BMIC: Service providers are required to bid the entire maintenance project.  Bids for individual components of the project will be disqualified.

DISQUALIFICATION FACTOR BMIC: Vendors must complete and include the C2 Cover Page with their bid. Bids received without the cover page will be disqualified.

DISQUALIFICATION FACTOR BMIC: Maintenance bids listing only an hourly rate and not a monthly or annual total will be disqualified.  Vendors quoting an hourly rate are required to also a) confirm that you have the ability/expertise to maintain all of the equipment listed and b) propose a number of hours at a particular rate monthly to properly maintain the entire list of equipment.  Bids that contain only hourly rates, without confirmation that the company can service the list of equipment, or without a monthly total will be disqualified.

DISQUALIFICATION FACTOR BMIC: Vendors who wish to bid must attend one of two mandatory site visits. Vendors who submit a bid but have not attended a meeting will be disqualified.

 


There is an additional document associated with this IFCB. Please click the buttons to download the document.

WYNNE_C2_COVER_PAGE.pdf
2022_C2_Bidding_Instructions30.pdf
Q_and_A_from_10_18_21_site_visit.docx

Questions Received with Applicant Answers   ( Ask Questions? )




1.) Will you allow alternate contract lengths? We typically offer districts 5 and 10 year contracts. The E-Rate Special Construction Rule allows districts to drastically buy down their monthly for life. Using a three year contract would not allow you to take full advantage of the cost savings associated with Special Construction. Taking these savings into consideration shows 20-year Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) as E-Rate requires. 2.) Is the district open to scalable pricing options? The RFP indicates the district is requesting 100 mbs. Would you be open to bids that offer up to 10gb of bandwidth? 3.) The RFP does not indicate what the district wants delivered at the hub? Are you asking for/allowing over subscription? Basically, I'm asking if you want the sum of the parts to equal what is delivered at the hub. For example, if you want 10 Gb to be delivered to your 4 edge sites, then you would be asking for 40 Gb to be delivered at the hub. It is very common for districts to only clarify what they want delivered at their edge sites and to neglect to mention the hub. This allows incumbents to over-subscribe your network. 4.) Which site is the district's hub?

Answer:

1. We prefer a 3 year term but this is not a requirement.

2. Please make sure you check the 470. We only bid out 100 mb, so bandwidths above that will not be approved by USAC.

3. The 4 edge sites are connected with district-owned fiber.  The one 100mb connection is the only leased connection we have.

4. High School. 

For the C2, Internal Connections portion, is a vendor allowed to bid only the equipment portion, or only the drops?

Answer:

No, we do require that vendors bid the entire project, otherwise the bid will be incomplete and disqualified.

CRW Consulting here, below are the Q&As from the walkthrough

Answer:

Q- Should the current blue patch cables be replaced? 

A- No

 

Q- Do you want the old patch cables tested?

A- No

 

Q- Do you have an on-site lift for getting up to high ceilings?

A- No

 

Q- How is routing handled?

A- Routing is handled by the district core switch. However, we use the state provided firewall so any changes to scopes/vlans or changes in IP filtering would need to be added there. 

 

Q- Do you use the state provided OpenDNS filtering?

A- Yes